Nagal, who has been training at the Nansel Tennis Academy in Germany for a few years, is in such a condition that he may not be able to train at his favorite place in the first three months of season 2023.
Before he finally managed to fund his stay in Germany, his friends Somdev Devvarman and Christopher Marquis helped him stay in shape in January and February.
To keep his ATP Tour going on, Nagal has even invested all his prize money, his salary from IOCL, and the support he gets from the Maha Tennis Foundation. All the expenditure goes into his stay at the training center in Peine and his travel for tournaments, that too with either his coach or a physio.
“If I look at my bank balance, I have what I had at the beginning of the year. It is 900 euros (approx ₹80,000). I did get a bit of help. Mr Prashant Sutar is helping me with MAHA Tennis Foundation and I also get monthly (salary) from IOCL but I don’t have any big sponsor,” PTI quoted Nagal as saying.
Nagal’s racquet, shoes, and apparel needs are being taken care of by Yonex and ASICS respectively.
As per details, Nagal has earned about 65 lakh in 24 tournaments played this year, and the biggest pay cheque came from the US Open where he lost the first round of the Qualifiers and still pocketed $22,000 (approx ₹18 lakh).
“I am investing whatever I am making. The yearly cost when I travel with one coach is costing me around 80 lahks to 1 crore and that is just with one traveling coach (no physio). Whatever I have made I have already invested,” he said.
“I feel like I am lacking support despite being India’s number-one player for the past few years. I am the only player to qualify for Grand Slams, the only player to win a (tennis) match at the Olympics (Tokyo) in last few years, and still the government has not added my name to the TOPS,” he added.
“I felt when my ranking dropped after injury, no one wanted to help me, no one believed that I could be back. That was disappointing because I feel whatever I do is not enough. It’s so hard to find financial support in India. To be honest, I do not know what to do, I have given up,” he said.
In 2022, Nagal fought off-court battles when he underwent hip surgery and also contracted COVID a couple of times. This gave him a doubt if he would ever get back to the tennis courts. Sitting and waiting is never easy for an athlete.
“Rehab took six months, then coming back to play took another six months. I would say I took a year-and-a-half, just to feel okay. It was in mid-summer last year when I started feeling better. I lost a few matches I should have won, I lost matches from match points or when serving for a match, and when I was a set and a breakup. I got COVID twice last year, so I had long, long two years,” he said.
“I don’t have anything in savings. I am just breaking even. I can not say I live a very good life or where I say I don’t need to work. I did not earn anything in the last two years so I am happy that I am breaking even. At least I am not in minus where I have to leave the academy and travel on my own.” Nagal said his coaches advised him to save money and then get back to Germany. I sat with Sasha Nansel (his coach) and Milos (his fitness trainer). They said you do a few things yourself and try to save as much money as possible in India and we start again in April,” he said, adding, “I travel with one of the two, and this is just the basic. I am not saying I want to stay at a five-star hotel, nothing like that, this is just the basic.”
Looking at the ATP singles chart, Nagal is the best-ranked Indian at 159, while the next best is Sasikumar Mukund, way back at 407.
Stating his disappointment, Nagal even said, Indian singles players not just lack the financial support but also the guidance.
“We lack funding, we lack the system. If there is a system, there will be funding. China has money. We have potential like China. Why do we win just 5-6 medals in the Olympics but China won 38 gold (in Tokyo),” he said.
“We are 1.4 billion, we can match them in talent but why we do not make it to a high level? The guidance is missing. In tennis, we are far away from competing at the top,” he said, adding, “I am improving. I do feel I have the game. If my body is good and I am playing tournaments, I feel I am ready (for big leap).”
With agency inputs.
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Updated: 20 Sep 2023, 10:04 PM IST
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Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
